Cyclists riding for sport or training for competition expend a great deal of energy, and lose a great deal of water as sweat. As a result, they need to drink a lot of water when cycling to quench their thirst. The most common method of providing drinking water, for non-competition cycling, is to carry a detachable water bottle on the frame of the bicycle. However, using this type of bottle when the bicycle is in motion can be dangerous, because the cyclist must look away from the road when taking the bottle from and replacing it into its cradle. Therefore, many cyclists prefer to come to a stop before drinking, which can be quite inconvenient. The water from these non-insulated bottles is usually warm, so that it does not make a refreshing drink.
The drawbacks of the ubiquitous water bottle have prompted the invention of several devices for allowing cyclists to drink while riding. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,095,812 to Rowe (1978) and 4,948,023 to Tripp (1990) show conventional water containers with very long straws. These straws allow a cyclist to sip a beverage without stopping. A significant problem of these systems is the difficulty of sucking liquid through a long straw. This is because the user must first suck out the great amount of air in the straw, and then work against the weight of the tall column of water to bring the water up through the straw. The process must be repeated for every use because the water will drop back down the straw after each sip. This can become very difficult to perform during a strenuous activity, such as cycling.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,833 to Edison et al. (1991) shows a water backpack with a bite-valve at the distal end of a tube. The user bites on the valve to accept water, which is caused by gravity to flow from the backpack into the tube. Although easy to use, this device will only work if it is located above the mouth, because it relies on gravity for feeding the water through the tube. Therefore, it can only be used by cyclists on bicycles with drooped handlebars, as shown in the patent. Moreover, many cyclists dislike wearing a large, constricting backpack.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,098 to Eger (1986) shows a rigid, pump-pressurized liquid container. A tube extending from the container has two separate passages, and a rubber bulb pump at the distal end. Pumping the bulb pressurizes the container via one passage, so that when a valve is released, liquid is forced out of the other passage of the tube. The valve has a knob which must be operated with two hands, so that it will require a cyclist to stop riding before drinking. It is fairly complicated in construction, so that its manufacturing cost will be relatively high.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,591 to Runkel (1991) shows a water container comprising a small, heavy latex or rubber balloon with a long feed tube connected to the top of the balloon. When filled and greatly expanded, the balloon will contract to force water through the tube and conveniently to the user. Although drinking from this device is very easy, filling it is more difficult. A pump, which can be inconvenient to carry, must be used to force water under higher than atmospheric pressure into the small balloon. Because the balloon has a minimum volume below which it cannot contract, and because the tube is connected to the top of the balloon, the user will not be able to drink the last amount of beverage. The small balloon must have enough elasticity for expansion, therefore it can only be made of latex or rubber. These materials are rather heavy, and have poor thermal insulating qualities. Furthermore, they impart an unpleasant rubbery taste to the drink. The elastic balloon is placed within an enlarged, non-elastic holder or outer case. The outer case is large enough to accommodate the balloon when it is fully filled and expanded. However, when the balloon is nearly empty, the non-elastic outer case will be loose, so that when the bicycle is in motion, the loose outer case will flap about to create considerable wind drag.
While the foregoing drinking devices for cyclists do in fact provide the benefit of drinking without having to stop riding, they have many shortcomings, including the difficulty of sucking through long straws, the requirement of carrying the container above mouth level, poor thermal insulating qualities, the inconvenience of having to pressure-fill the container with a pump, the rubbery taste imparted to the water by the containers, and the inability to access a remaining quantity of a beverage in the container.